'Official English' Laws Win Approval in 3 States

Copyright 1988 Voters in Florida, Colorado, and Arizona last week
approved ballot measures that would make English the official language
of their states.

Supporters of the state constitutional amendments said they were
hopeful that their victories would fuel support for changes in state
bilingual-education programs and the adoption of an official-English
amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Seventeen states now have such laws, although only four were enacted
by popular vote.

"We're hoping this will send a very strong signal to Congress this
year, as we start working on issues such as bilingual education and the
federal English amendment," said Tom Olson, public-affairs director for
U.S. English, a national group that heavily backed the initiatives.

Opponents, however, maintained that intensive public-education
efforts and recent controversies surrounding the official-English
movement narrowed the margin of support for the measures and diminished
the strength of the "mandate" proponents had sought.

Martha Jiminez, legislative attorney for the Mexican American Legal
Defense and Educational Fund, said that despite the "hundreds of
thousands of dollars" invested by backers of the initiatives, "they
didn't get the blowout they wanted."

When voters could be reached "with valuable and pertinent
information," she said, "they were not to be deceived."

The victory was narrowest in Arizona, where the measure was approved
by 51 percent of the voters.

Perry G. Baker, a spokesman for the "No on Proposition 106
Committee," said publicity surrounding the disclosure of a
controversial memorandum by the former chairman of U.S. English had
helped to diminish support for the measure. (See Education Week, Nov.
2, 1988.)

In Colorado, the measure received the backing of 61 percent of the
voters; in Florida, 84 percent of the voters approved it.

Despite the wide margin of support, however, an incident last week
at a victory celebration in Miami signaled dissenion among supporters,
according to Jeffrey T. Browne, coordinator of an opposition group
called Speak Up Now for Florida.

Mr. Browne said that Mark A. LaPorta, who led the Florida English
Campaign, was "denounced as a traitor" by fellow supporters of the
amendment when he issued a joint statement with the director of sun for
Florida, John Webber.

The statement said that the state should take steps to help people
learn English but that the law should not be used to "coerce, punish,
or encumber the rights" of those who do not speak English. It also
called for the repeal of an "anti-bilingual ordinance" passed in Dade
County in 1980, which sharply restricted the circulation of county
materials in langauges other than English.

Angry supporters then "rushed the stage" during the news conference,
which dissolved into confusion, Mr. Browne said. The fracas, he added,
demonstrated "a big difference between the moderates who have created a
facade of respectability for this amendment and the extremists who are
supporting it."

Dr. LaPorta, who retracted his statement following the news
conference, said last week that the reference to the Dade County
ordinance had caused the greatest consternation among supporters. He
said he hoped laws enforcing the state's official-English amendment
would ultimately supercede and make unnecessary an "antibilingual"
ordinance.

But he maintained that he was "politically naive" to call for its
repeal publicly without consulting fellow supporters.

Dr. LaPorta added, however, that their behavior during the news
conference was "less than decorous."

Mr. Olson said last week that he hoped supporters could "work
together with opponents to work on the common ground of promoting
English proficiency."

Opponents of the Florida measure had suffered a setback just before
Election Day, when a federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit that
sought to invalidate petitions that placed the official-English
amendment on the ballot.

The plaintiffs charged that the proposal should be declared invalid
because sponsors failed to circulate Spanish-language petitions in some
areas whose election procedures are covered under the federal Voting
Rights Act. But a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the 11th Circuit ruled that the law "does not apply to initiative
petitions."

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit issued a similar
ruling in Colorado last month.

Although the ballot petitions for the official-English amendment
were not subject to a similar challenge in Arizona, Mr. Baker of the
Arizona opposition group said his people last week were "mapping out a
strategy" to challenge the measure itself in court.

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